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Prime Outlets International Orlando
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Prime Retail showcased its sparkling Prime Outlets International Orlando on May 24, holding the formal grand opening for the mammoth center, which has
become a powerhouse of fashion and American brands.
In a public ceremony at one of the center’s many water fountains, an ebullient Bob Brvenik, Prime Retail’s president, along with other top Prime Retail executives, opened bottles of champagne and toasted their achievement.
It was a notable high point for the center following nearly two years of demolition, construction and soft store openings, a period in which the project remained open during all the work.
New era for Prime
“Prime Outlets International
Orlando marks a new era in outlet shopping,” says Brvenik. “We are answering the call to deliver large, well-tenanted outlet centers
throughout our growing portfolio and this center truly represents our commitment to offer shoppers the brands they demand at the prices they desire.”
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For the nearly 46 million vacationers that visit Orlando each year, the new center is a shopper’s magnet. The project boasts 175 stores on its 778,000-sf campus, and its later-opening, 290,000-sf designer wing brings together such tenants as BCBG, Michael Kors, Sean Jean, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Betsey Johnson, Hugo Boss and Kenneth Cole.
Other new tenants include Baccarat, Ann Taylor, 2b Bebe, DKNY Jeans, Juicy Couture, Hickey Freeman, Banana Republic, Kate Spade, Samsonite Black Label and the only Neiman Marcus Last Call in central Florida.
Off 5th – Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet has moved from the developer’s designer annex down the street to the newly renovated area in a 26,400-sf space with twice the number of sales associates, plus expanded handbag and sunglass sections. |
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Capturing 17 percent of market
Prime foresees about 8 million visitors during the next year at the center, about 17 percent of the market’s total draw.
Karen Fluharty, senior VP of marketing for developer Prime Retail, says that number will be evenly split between local shoppers and domestic and international tourists.
The retail market in Central Florida is booming, according to a first quarter report by real estate services firm Colliers Arnold, and Orlando’s tourist corridor accounts for a big part of its success. The vacancy rate in the submarket is a low 4.1 percent, compared to an average 6.3 percent for Central Florida.
All but four spaces in Prime Outlets International Orlando are leased, and Fluharty says they are being reserved for top fashion names Prime Retail anticipates will be drawn to the center.
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Few store openings have generated as much excitement as Victoria’s Secret Outlet (above); in top photo, Prime created a Mediterranean outlet village where a
pioneer mall once stood.
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Prime Outlets International Orlando sits in a coveted and well-traveled spot surrounded by the major tourist attractions. Prime Retail came into possession of the property in 2006 when it acquired the 700,000-sf Belz Factory Outlet World and the 200,000-sf Belz Designer Outlet Centre for $150 million from Estein & Associates USA Ltd.
Second-largest outlet center
The project is huge, marketed as “the largest outlet center in the southern United States.” In fact, only Chelsea Property Group’s 844,000-sf, 23-year-old Woodbury Common Premium Outlets, an hour north of New York City, is a bigger outlet center.
Another Chelsea center, the-soon-to-be expanded Orlando Premium Outlets (430,000 sf) and the independently owned Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores (253,000 sf) serve as outlet competition to Prime Outlets International Orlando.
Prime Outlets International has become the flagship in Prime Retail’s 21-property outlet-center portfolio, fully 109,000-sf larger than its first new-construction center in San Marcos, Texas,
which it opened 18 years ago.
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The pioneer Orlando center opened in 1981 as
a- 280,000-sf new-construction mall. By the time Prime acquired it, the sprawling complex was more than ready for a makeover that would bring it into the 21st Century. Despite its age, though, the project’s location and visibility have remained spectacular, probably the main reason that Prime undertook the $150 million renovation.
Located at the north end of International Drive in the heart of Disney World and the Universal Studios tourist areas, Prime Outlets International Orlando serves both the greater Orlando region and its tourist market. The main site is the former two-mall Belz Factory Outlet World, but Prime demalled the projects and turned them into a Mediterranean-style open-air shopping plaza. The former Belz designer center nearby stands intact,
its tenant list largely remerchandised.
“Our goal was to have strong critical mass and to create a center that showcases luxury and upmarket designers and popular American brands,” Fluharty says.
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“The outlet business isn’t complicated,” she says. “It’s all about brands, which drives our marketing.”
Two of the center’s tenants – Samonsite Black Label and Baccarat/Lalique – have opened their first outlet stores with Prime. Others – including Movado, Cole Haan and Saks – rolled out new retail interiors in the Orlando center.
“These merchants enhance our position as a must-see destination for shopping,” Fluharty says.
The new center, she says, is expected to do well, despite opening during a period when consumers are pulling back on discretionary spending.
“In difficult economic times,” Fluharty says, “the outlet segment has historically performed above the full-price sector. International or
domestic, shoppers are looking to make their money go further.”
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After observing its shoppers, Prime Outlets redesigned the Orlando center to
synthesize brands and architecture, showcasing an eclectic mix of designer
tenants in an upscale, comfortable setting.
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Prime Branding
‘The World is your Runway’:
Prime’s consumer rebranding
By Tom Kirwan, Senior Editor
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Late in 2007 Prime Retail put its 10 regional malls into
one division and its 21 outlet centers into another. The company also decentralized its marketing structure and gave new VP-marketing Karen Fluharty the job of coming up with a fresh consumer rebranding strategy – within the next 90 days.
The quick turnaround was necessary, Prime execs felt, so that the rebranding could be in place by the grand opening of Prime Outlets International Orlando, as well as for the promotion of newly announced projects and expansions. The planned projects are in Livermore, Calif.; Grand Prairie, Texas; and Holly Springs, Ga., north of Atlanta, and the expansions are at existing projects in Barceloneta, P.R.; St. Augustine, Fla.; and Ellenton, Fla.
One major decision in meeting the stiff deadline was to enlist the help of Oxford Communications, its consumer marketing agency, rather than switching horses midstream.
“We stayed with Oxford,” Fluharty says. “The team listens, and it takes our vision and delivers it.”
As for the emphasis the rebranding should take, Fluharty says the decision was relatively easy. “We knew we wanted the rebranding to be from the consumer standpoint and that it had to be about brands: Brands drive footfall.”
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Prime’s comprehensive new marketing plan uses creative for every range of media, including television (top photo) and print (above) to deliver the upscale shopping message.
New consumer print and TV ads are loaded with tenant names, and www.primeoutlets.com features a scroll on its home page of more than two dozen brands, including Aéropostale, Banana Republic Factory Store, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Catherine Malandrino, Coach, Cole Haan, Giorgio Armani General Store, Gap Outlet,
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Gucci, Guess, Juicy Couture, Neiman Marcus Last Call, Nike Factory Store, Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store, Pottery Barn, Puma, Neiman Marcus Last Call, Salvador Ferragamo Factory Store, St. John Company Store, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss Factory Store, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Puma, Under Armour Factory House and Zegna.
Advertisements boldly state,
“The power of passionate shopping,” evocative of shopping as an obsession. Another oft-used catchphrase is “The World is
your Runway,” aimed at the fashion-forward, value-minded shopper, as well as the international visitor.
The main colors of print ads are black, with white lettering and a “red ball” encircling the middle letter in Prime, turning the i into a No. 1. Red also is used provocatively in many ads.
Sultry models convey the elegance of shopping at Prime centers: Ads feature brightly clad models in frocks of varying sophistication in front of a meadow, a beach, a dock, a supermodern railway, and designer brand names fill in the background. Accessories are subtly and sparingly applied: pink luggage, red high heels, bright blue gladiator sandals, chunky bracelets, wide belts, skinny belts, all chic and timeless.
Finally, the new branding strategy has a largely international flavor. The “Power Savings Coupon Book” for sale for $7 in Prime Centers is often in English and Spanish.
“We’ve added two tourism positions – in Orlando and San Marcos, Texas – with bilingual staff, to put more resources into tourism, both domestic and inbound,” Fluharty says.
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